


Before the Nile

by xenakis



Category: Temeraire - Novik
Genre: Fanart, Gen, Podfic Available
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-03
Updated: 2010-01-03
Packaged: 2017-10-05 18:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/44579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenakis/pseuds/xenakis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One day -- soon, by the dragon's reckoning -- Excidium will once again come back alone from battle, and share his grief with the remaining member of the Roland line.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Before the Nile

**Author's Note:**

> Dear Chrismm, this snippet grew out of my attempt to write the summary of my Yuletart gift. I couldn't finish it in time for the deadline, so you get it for the reveal, instead. I hope you'll enjoy this little extra present!
> 
> A note about the art: this is Jane Roland pre-scar. I choose to believe she got it at the Nile, which is the battle she is preparing to fly to in this piece.

"Where is Heepgypt?" Jane hears Emily ask as she nears Excidium's head hurriedly, buckling the last few loose straps of her harness, pulling on a glove. As she clears his left front leg, she sees that the girl has somehow managed to climb upon the dragon's bony spur, propping herself against the soft scales below his eye.

"Egypt," Excidium corrects, "and it is quite far, beyond the Channel, and the Mediterranean beyond that."

Impressed, Emily asks, "Is that more far than London, then?"

Excidium is careful not to jostle the child as he lets out a surprised laugh.

Jane reaches her daughter's side as the dragon attempts to describe how far away the covert is from London, and how much farther still the Nile is. He does not stop to greet Jane, but he pushes his head ever so slightly against the arm she rests against the exposed bone of his spur. Jane observes silently as child and dragon argue over the estimated number of feet (Emily's feet, because she only has a vague idea of how big the King's are and hers are conveniently right _here_) separating them from Nelson's fleet.

 

Her heart gladdens to see them so. It had taken nearly two years for Excidium to stop his strange, distant behaviour towards Emily. It is not jealousy that made him so, she knows. Excidium, after all, had had to share Jane's mother with Jane herself, and Jane's grandmother with her mother before that. He knows all of them were, and are, his.

Not jealousy, no, but sadness, she thinks. Excidium is growing older now, and Emily is a reminder that his captains have never been allowed to do so. One day -- soon, by the dragon's reckoning -- he will once again come back alone from battle, and share his grief with the remaining member of the Roland line.

Jane had feared that Excidium no longer found the substitution acceptable, that he would not allow his heart to be broken a third time and be healed, imperfectly, once again.

She does not know if he has changed his mind, but she finds she has to believe so. In a moment, Excidium's harness-master will ask him to test the leathers and Jane's first officer will hand her the latest orders. In five minutes, they will be aloft. In a day, they will have joined Nelson's forces. Some time later, Excidium will come home to Emily.

Jane promises herself that so will she. She will keep making that promise for as long as she is able, for all three of their sakes.

 

Next to her, Emily is now stubbornly declaring, "Well, when I am older, my feet will not be so small. Then I am sure I could walk to the Great Pryramines myself."

Excidium's voice is infinitely kind as he replies, "Were your feet to grow bigger than the covert's cook's, it would still be much faster for me to carry you on my back,"

Jane's head snaps up to meet the fiery amber of his eye. He holds her gaze, trusting her to understand. Excidium has also made his promise, then. She puts her hand on his warm scales, lingering a moment as relief, courage and love seep back into her.

In the corner of her eye, Jane sees the harness-master approaching. She straightens, and puts on her remaining glove. With a final push against Excidium's side, she reaches for Emily.

 

*****

 

[ ](http://s592.photobucket.com/albums/tt3/xenakis_/fanworks/?action=view&current=YULETARTforchrismm.jpg)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] Before the Nile](https://archiveofourown.org/works/742133) by [silly_cleo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silly_cleo/pseuds/silly_cleo)
  * [The Mandate of Dragons](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8692864) by [mercuriallyCooperative](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercuriallyCooperative/pseuds/mercuriallyCooperative)




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